It is a great honor to have been re-elected as your Mayor for a second term. Throughout my brief political career, which only began in 2000 as an anti-merger and later demerger activist, I have had the support of so many dedicated and hard working people who believed in a noble cause. Whether that cause was fighting to get our town back, helping to rebuild it or striving to make it the best town on the island, the one constant has been the support of so many of you. For that I am very grateful.

We have accomplished much in the past four years and the town is in far better shape today than it was when it was reconstituted following the borough years. However, in our rush to do the most critical things, we never had the luxury of putting together a long-term strategic plan for the town. With the help of the members of council we have begun to build that plan. Rest assured that we will not put anything on hold while the plans are being developed. There are already many new initiatives in the works and they will not be delayed but once the plan is in place future projects will be evaluated based on our goals, priorities and long term vision. At the appropriate time, residents will be consulted and their input incorporated into our shared vision.

As always, I invite you to contact me by e-mail, phone or even when you see me around town to discuss any issues you may have.

Dear constituents,
 
My sponsorship portfolio is new, exciting, and a most interesting challenge.

It is my intent to work with Mayor & Council, Hampstead management and of course you, our residents, in the marketing of our beautiful municipality in such a way that funds can be generated through innovative value added ROI to donors and corporations. I will submit details on our sponsorship and donation campaign in the next Hampstead newsletter.

I take this opportunity to invite you, our Hampstead residents, to join our Sponsorship/Advertising volunteer committee with a promise of an exciting and fulfilling experience. Ideas and suggestions from residents will benefit all concerned. Please do not hesitate in giving me a call at 514-262-9099.

Sincerely,
Abe Gonshor

" Instead of looking on discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all."
 
Pericles referring to the city State of Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BCE)

Two Thousand Four Hundred years ago Pericles spoke the above quotation during a funeral oration given annually to commemorate the fallen Athenians of the 27 year Peloponnesian war. If during a time of war a society that was surrounded by militaristic absolute rulers could hold discussion in such high regard then all the more so we who live in a peaceful oasis should excel at discussion with our citizens.
 
As a town we have much to learn from the ancient Greeks as well as modern day Greece. Recently we have seen the turmoil and devastation that can occur by living beyond ones means. Greece would have defaulted on its sovereign debt had it not been for a Trillion Dollar bailout provided by the international community to support Greek and other European Union debt. The simple lesson is one of fiscal responsibility. We must all learn to live within our means as individuals, as municipalities and as nations.
 
My primary role is that of Finance. Last month council received the 2009 audited financial statements from our external auditors, Goudreau Poirier. In short the presentation this year has changed much but the fundamentals have thankfully not changed. Municipal Financial presentation in Quebec has shifted to a national model. This model is quite different from what we have been accustomed to and requires a good deal of expert explanation to understand. Straight comparisons between the current financials and the previous ones are impossible without a good deal of discussion and explanation.
 
June 7th we will be tabling the town's audited financial statements. The statements will be made available to the public on the Hampstead Web Site. As promised we will present the Financials in an open forum. The presentation will be made by the Town's Treasurer in conjunction with the Town's auditors. The target date is our Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday September 7th 2010. All residents and interested parties are invited to attend this important discussion. My goal is absolute transparency.
 
The fundamentals are positive. Hampstead generated a modest operating surplus in the fiscal year 2009. Our accumulated surplus stands at approximately 1.5 Million dollars. Capital payments during the year on all loans was slightly over $ 1,000,000. Currently there are no major variances between budgeted items for fiscal year 2010 and actual amounts spent to date. Going forward we are in a strong position with projected Principal and Interest (P&I) payments expected to drop from 1.7 Million dollars to 1.148 Million dollars in fiscal year 2012, for a net decrease of  $ 560,000 per year or rather a 32 % decrease in projected P&I payments, based on our current debt load.

Fears I have regard the Montreal agglomeration budget for 2011. In 2010 we were hit with a 12% increase in our taxes payable to Montreal. Given that Montreal represents approximately half of our taxes it translated in to a 6% tax increase to our residents. It is imperative that Montreal and the Provincial Government understand that it is not possible for us to sustain double digit tax increases in order to underwrite Montreal's continuing budget shortfalls. Further the current concept of taxation without direct representation is antithetical to a modern liberal democracy.
 
I wonder what Pericles would have done?

Thank you for trusting me with a second term.

Although I have been re-elected by acclamation, I can assure all that I intend to continue working on improving our quality of life in Hampstead and continue improving the urban planning as a portfolio chair. The experience of the past four year will come in handy.

One of the challenges we will be dealing with soon is the desire to move to a new Town Hall as well as the redevelopment of the fire station on Macdonald. I am very excited about my new Public Security portfolio and I look forward to get started on improving our residents’ safety and security by providing all residents with ideas and tips for a better and safer environment and introducing measures such as a neighbourhood watch as a very effective way for residents to volunteer for their bloc safety. The neighbourhood Volunteer Citizens on Cars and Bikes Patrol is one I would like to see implemented in our town. Although I would like to believe we can put this program in place, we need to encourage residents’ response to participate and volunteer.

I will always make myself always available in a timely manner should you have any questions or comments.

“Your concern is my priority”

Chair, Public Works Committee
Co-Chair, Environment Committee
Co-Chair, Parks Committee
Member, Demolition Committee
Mayor's 4th substitute, Agglomeration Meetings

I am extremely proud to have been elected to represent our citizens. Choosing to run for re-election was an easy decision. For several years, I have been actively participating with Community Volunteer Work. Aside form my constant presence in the community, assisting on Hampstead’s Public Security and Traffic Committees, spearheading the Little League Baseball Program for over 8 years, I have been an active Board Member of 2 local public institutions stemming as far back as 1994.

Upon being elected in 2006, I utilized my same passion that I have given to community organizations, towards our town. In very little time at Council, I have helped our Town by implementing substantial improvements to our services and infrastructure.

As Public Works Portfolio Chair, the following improvements have taken place under my stewardship:

• Improved recycling program and the implementation of larger bins. Hampstead is now the 5th best municipality in the Greater Montreal area.
• Signing of a 6-year collective agreement with the unionized employees.
• Replacement of antiquated Public Works vehicles.
• Clean-up and revamping of the Town’s Public Works yard.
• Repaving, rehabilitation, and rebuilding of many streets and sidewalks.
• Renewing and replacing of many of the Town’s sewers and water pipes.
• Improved relationship between unionized employees and administration.
  

My dedication to our Town goes well beyond Public Works:

• Due to my experience as a Bank Manager, I scrutinized our budget every year; so that we consistently reduced our taxes and almost all residents enjoyed a 1% decrease in 2009.
• As an active Councillor, I have attended nearly all Council meetings and have participated in Community events or represented our Town outside the community as well.
• In collaboration with Héma-Québec, I organized and chaired the Hampstead Blood Drive, where, in our recent 3rd annual event resulted in almost double the amount of donors from the 1st event.
• In conjunction with the local Police station and our Public Security department, I frequently patrolled our streets when the Town was experiencing the influx of home robberies and vandalism of parked cars.
• Even before I was elected into Council in 2006, I sat on the Public Security and Traffic committees.
• Council Representative, Hampstead Pension Committee
• Co-Chair, Hampstead Parks Committee
  

Looking ahead, as the Commissioner for Public Works, I will continue to work to improve our Town’s infrastructure. As the Commissioner for Information & Technology (IT), I will look into improving on and reducing our costs related to our website, server access, etc.  As Co-Commissioner for Environment, I will look into reducing our garbage program, improving our recycling and exploring all possibilities for a composting program. In conjunction with my IT responsibilities, I will look into reducing our paper usage and look into a paperless program for all Council & Caucus items. 

With all of my responsibilities as your elected representative, I, along with my esteemed colleagues on Council, will ensure that my second mandate will produce equally positive results for our town while ensuring that our spending is scrutinized. I will do my part to ascertain that the level of service and quality of life, that we have enjoyed living in our Garden Community, is maintained or improved upon and I intend on serving my community for years to come. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Spring is here and with it a new fresh outlook for Hampstead’s sustainable development.  As everyone now knows, we have switched our Friday garbage collection to a green waste pick up. Mayor Steinberg has explained all the cost savings and revenue gains in his May newsletter message. I’d like to talk about my personal experiences and reasoning in this matter. When I was Pro-Mayor in January of 2007, I had to sign the cheques to pay for the garbage and recycling.

I was shocked by the $36000 we spend on garbage collection vs. the $4000 we spent on recycling at that time. I vowed that I would divert as much as I could of my households’ garbage to recycling and I am proud to say that, since then, I have not put out garbage on a Friday. What do I do? Well, like a majority of Hampsteaders, I have a garbarator, so I don’t have to deal with much food waste and I am thankfully past diaper duty, so I don’t have that issue. However, I truly believe that with a composting plan, which we hope to introduce next year and well sealed garbage cans, we can all manage, as most municipalities have been doing for years. 

I wish you all a great summer. I look forward to seeing you at the parks, in the pool, and of course at Hampstead Day. 

All the best,
Bonnie